Xiaomi devices don't have a big footprint outside of Asia, but there are a ton of these phones in the world, and they all ship with the MIUI build of Android. Now, the final build of the new MIUI 7 is set to roll out on October 27th via OTA on supported devices. This version of Android brings a ton of improvements, but it's weirdly still based on KitKat for some devices and Lollipop on others.

MIUI 7 has been in open beta for about a month, so the feature set is well known. The new software extends battery life by 10% and speeds up system performance by 30%, or so Xiaomi claims. There are also included system UI themes, as well as a theme builder and a ton of downloadable themes. Then you get some smaller tweaks like incoming call videos for your contacts, a kids mode, and an enhanced gallery with facial recognition.

MIUI 7 will arrive via OTA on newer Xiaomi devices including the Mi 4i, Mi 3, Redmi 2, Redmi Note Pro, and Redmi 1S. A flashable ROM download will also be available on the MIUI download page for supported devices. There are MIUI 7 builds listed there now, but I think these are still beta builds. Keep in mind, some of these phones are staying on KitKat with MIUI 7, but it's not clear which ones yet.

The one that still on kitkat is Redmi 1S as seen in beta and chinese rom

SanBlarnoi

Mi3 and Mi4 also use 4.4.4 in MIUI7

David

MiUI is why I DON'T buy one of these devices.

YaKillaCJ

Miui itself is actually great in use surprisingly. There aren't any big limitations on doing anything like ya would on AOSP or CM. Being a big AOSP fan, I can honestly say Miui is good in use. It takes a dump on TouchWiz, Sense, ZenUI, etc.
1 of the biggest perks that no other Manufacturer got right is built in security and weekly updates.

Đức Thành

Certainly, but if there is one thing I dislike about it, it's the iOS-esque feel of it coupled with the lack of an app drawer.

thartist

A billion times!!!

SanBlarnoi

If you dont like MIUIs launcher, just install any launcher you like :)

For the "iOS-esque feel": MIUI is highly themable, so you might get around this pretty easy, too.

I dont understand why people decide about their next phone by easy replacable things like preinstalled launchers and the like.

Đức Thành

What you said is true. However, while preinstallered launchers can be easily replaced by Nova, the system UI and system apps that come with that default launcher cannot. I don't mind preinstallered launchers because I can just slap another launcher on it, but every time I see a phone with heavily modded default launcher I take an educated guess that the experience is gonna be sucky either way, and oftentimes I am right.

I mean, have you seem one of those skins by the likes of Oppo and Lenovo? They don't just modify the launcher to an iOS-look-alike, some phones even have their Recents tab modified to imitate that of iOS', like this one (Oppo R7 running modified Android 5.1.1): http://i.ytimg.com/vi/a79HpX2HWqk/maxresdefault.jpgIt even has a Clear RAM button, ffs

And that's just one example of manufacturers making what is usually unnecessary modifications just for the sake of differentiation (while ironically some choose to do that by imitating a certain fruit company's products), then ending up offering an user experience somehow worse than the one stock Android already offers.

Like I said, I don't really mind OEMs' custom launchers, but the implications they come with are rather unfortunate ones.

SanBlarnoi

I see your point.

* Maybe its just me, but almost all apps i use are 3rd-party ones anyway, and those remain to look "normal" (exactly the same with aosp and miui)

* Did you know that you can flash aosp to nearly all xiaomi devices? :)
Since these come pre-rooted, your warranty isnt affected and the process is as easy as downloading the rom, reboot into recovery, flash the .zip and enjoy :)

Using a custom recovery even allows you to install miui and aosp at the same time, so you can switch systems as you see fit.

YaKillaCJ

Well true enough. That's where Miui comes in at tho. It doesn't hinder nor slow Android functions. Much how CM is pretty much AOSP with extras. Keep in mind that Miuu is the 2nd most used aftermarket Rom for a reason. I use to feel the same way until I said I will give it 48 hours and a true shot. Miui is far superior than every OEM skin out there. Either way, there devices don't force ya to use em. They are very dev friendly and been at it for years now. 3rd biggest OEM for a reason but they compete.

David Onter

Looks like interfaces did 4 years ago.

Đức Thành

There was a time when I actually liked that skin. I guess everyone has to be young and foolish at least once.

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someone755

I really liked it back in GingerBread (or was it ICS or even 4.1 already?).
Whichever MIUI I fell in love with, I still adore. The newer ones just aren't as good.

Indrajit Arroisi

MIUI is iOS wannabe, trust me

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Arun Kpm

yeah . me too . miui skin is boring

AsterMK

Or you could just not be ignorant and flash anything else or root since neither void your warranty (on Xiaomi phones, that is). Source: Redmi Note 2 owner, the dev ROM even comes pre-rooted and there's official guides about flashing TWRP etc. so they're pretty serious about making their devices as customizable as possible. Even if you don't do that, MIUI is still pretty good in many ways.

Sergei Garcia

Maybe it's because it's not targeted to you? I myself would probably also never in a million years use MIUI, but not because of it's look and feel, but because I hate skinned android versions.

Having said that, I'm actually surprised that it actually MIUI 7 actually looks quite good, if not much better than almost all android skinned versions (far above Touchwiz and LG UX 4.0), and the theming engine looks like it's functional as fuck. I'm actually considering getting a Xiaomi device for my girlfriend (she isn't very into android, but loves theming the shit out of her device with launchers)

YaKillaCJ

She would love it then. Miui are the most themeable devices by far. Not to say CM isn't a close 2nd. It's just the sheer amount of themes, creativity and customization puts it over the top.

Mg

I still don't understand why people are so fixated about the underlying operating system version. Google play service delivers all the juicy stuff these days.

Roh_Mish

Not entirely true

F4uzan

Excluding system level fixes, better app compatibility, and improved API. You can't run an app intended for API 23 (Marshmallow) on API 20 (Lollipop) just because it has newest Play Services.

YaKillaCJ

Umm, U kno that U can flash Gapps on Miui right?

thunderqus

I thought they are bundled by default, isnt that the case? I saw the screen shot on its website and they all have Play store in the screen shots.

AsterMK

Bundled on the globam ROM, flashable on the Chinese ROM through an app on the Mi Store (or whatever it's called).

sakis_the_fraud

ok all new devices will get MIUI 7.

what about Marshmallow?

I'm mainly concerned about Xiaomi Mi 4c.

Roh_Mish

No. MIUI updates and android updates dot go together. It will still be 5.0 or whatever it came out with. Like miui on mi3/4 is still KitKat.

sakis_the_fraud

If I got it right, it may get MIUI 8 but it may still have android 5?

Roh_Mish

Yes.

Roh_Mish

Using it on my Mi3 and its unstable. How can they release it just yet. Well, previous MIUI was not stable either.

YaKillaCJ

Funny enough it's super stable on my OnePlus One

haseoxth

Seems all the Xiaomi devices except Xiaomi Note will get MIUI based on android 4.4.4...

Greyhame

Kill it with fire :0

Fatal1ty_93_RUS

Kikat and Lollipop in October, 2015 - super anti-hype

David ruddonkulous

Miui is buggy crap. The phone hardware has so much potential and they ruin it with this ancient crap. Just release one with stock android. Let Google do the software. They're way better at it than cyanocrap or cryui.

AsterMK

Is it? I've yet to run into any issues on MIUI and I'm even on a dev ROM. Ancient crap is ironic because it's had features long before stock Android, like having permissions management on KitKat.

David’s brother

I see what you mean. Howeveer having features first doesn't mean it's better. It's using an ancient version of Android as its base. Think if all the huge enhancements Google has made to Android since KitKat. Miui is missing them all. Security as well, missing.

AsterMK

I have Lollipop on my Redmi Note 2 here and I'll be getting Marshmallow, so that's a weak argument. That's a $130 phone. The Moto E, by comparison ($150 at launch), got abandoned.

SanBlarnoi

"Security as well, missing.": so, current MIUI roms have all(!) stagefright issues fixed (including stagefright 2.0), even those running kitkat.
May i suggest that you get your facts right before posting? :)

Don't they also offer vanilla android as an option to flash? Or am I thinking of another chinese oem?

Davidoff

I'd buy a 4c in a heartbeat if that was the case. A simple way to get vanilla marshmallow.

AsterMK

Pretty much all Xiaomi phones have AOSP ROMs by now, but not official.

Brad

There was one company that did official AOSP ROMs but you had to flash them yourself... I wish I remembered which one...

Черный капюшон

Elephone?

Defenestratus

I thought iOS 9 has been out for a while?

anvoru

My eyes! Those skins...

AsterMK

There's a lot of themes though, and you can change the launcher if you don't like it. Best case scenario for some people, just flash any ROM and your warranty shouldn't be void.

Sergei Garcia

iOS clone or not, That looks a million times better than LG's UX 4.0 and Samsung's Touchwiz... Damm, I'm seriously considering a Xiaomi device as a gift. Their budget options and OS seem far better than what Samsung, LG and Sony offer at the low to medium price range...

Đức Thành

Wait, LG's skin has a name? Lol

YaKillaCJ

Yea I kno right. It sucks. Must be LifesGood UglyXperiment

Steve Freeman

You can also download the MIUI ROM for a number of non Xiaomi devices. Or at least you could, when I was still using my Droid X, so that was a while ago. I haven't checked in a while.

It was a very attractive ROM, and definitely customizable, but you had to be willing to create your own themes or searching through a large list of available themes.

YaKillaCJ

Still are. They the 2nd biggest aftermarket Rom in use. Only beat by CyanogenMod and its derivatives. Funny part is how they cover a lot of no name phones, good thing tho because many of these devices gets no OEM support.